I could log this great garret piece under my weblogging category, but that may be missing the point.

i see no politikblogger achieving public justice for any major issue; what i keep coming across is simply a string of petty private revenges. at the present time, politikbloggers devour each other over the actions of politicians who don’t even know they exist, by reinterpreting carefully selected articles and opinion pieces generated by one of a double-handful of monopolistic media machines, as seen through the rose-colored glasses of their particular political caste. truly, “empty protest” … as is this entire paragraph.

I shut down PhillyFuture because I realized it was “empty protest”. Commenting on the articles of others, and adding nothing to Philly related causes. I couldn’t figure out how to make the transition from punditry, to real activism. Check out HallWatch for a Philly site that is making a difference.

NYTimes – Barbara Ehrenreich

Only a person of unblemished virtue can get a job at Wal-Mart ? a low-level job, that is, sorting stock, unloading trucks or operating a cash register. A drug test eliminates the chemical miscreants; a detailed “personality test” probes the job applicant’s horror of theft and willingness to turn in an erring co-worker.

…What has been revealed in corporate America over the past six months is a two-tier system of morality: Low-paid employees are required to be hard-working, law-abiding, rule-respecting straight arrows. More than that, they are often expected to exhibit a selfless generosity toward the company, readily “donating” chunks of their time free of charge. Meanwhile, as we have learned from the cases of Enron, Adelphia, ImClone, WorldCom and others, many top executives have apparently felt free to do whatever they want ? conceal debts, lie about profits, engage in insider trading ? to the dismay and sometimes ruin of their shareholders.

But investors are not the only victims of the corporate crime wave. Workers also suffer from management greed and dishonesty. In Wal-Mart’s case, the moral gravity of its infractions is compounded by the poverty of its “associates,” many of whom are paid less than $10 an hour.

A much linked to history of the Pledge.

Excellent background information into the history of our mottos.

“E Pluribus Unum”

A huge reference on the seperation of Church and State.

Quotes from America’s founding fathers.

wow

What’s interesting is the takes in different message board forums. Contrast and compare:

Yahoo!

Metafilter

i’m gonna be sick

A very interesting report from the Pew Internet & American Life project.

Story at Yahoo!

Some days, as soon as she walked in a manager told her to rush to a cash register and start ringing up purchases, without clocking in. Sometimes, she said, she worked for three hours before clocking in.

“They wanted us to do a lot of work for no pay,” said Ms. Richardson, who worked from 1995 to 2000 at a Wal-Mart in southeast Kansas City. “A company that makes billions of dollars doesn’t have to do that.”

Don’t think this is limited to Wal-Mart.

Oliver Willis first calls the far left doomed and then hits Bush for fullfilling his campaign promise to be the opposite of Bill Clinton.

While doing paperwork I watched a great portion of courageous F.B.I. Agent Coleen Rowley’s testimony.

She was inspirational. May her efforts to get out the truth be paid the attention they’re due.